Abstract
The challenge of identifying alternatives to subtherapeutic levels of antibiotic growth promoters (AGP) in animal feed has led to increased interest in feed additives such as exogenous enzymes and direct-fed microbials (DFM). Six corn soy-based dietary treatments were designed to investigate the effect of high-efficiency xylanase alone, Bacillus spp. probiotics alone, and their combination vs. a commonly used antibiotic growth promoter (bacitracin methylene disalicylate; BMD) on live performance and environmental Clostridium perfringens load of broiler chickens with eight replicate pens per treatment. Diets were as follows: standard diet (positive control; PC); 130 kcal/kg reduced-energy diet (negative control; NC); NC with xylanase (NC + Xy); NC with probiotics (NC + Pro); NC with xylanase and probiotics mix (NC + XyPro); and NC with BMD (NC + BMD). Data were analyzed as one-way ANOVA. At 35 and 42 days, birds fed with NC + XyPro and NC + BMD were heavier (P < 0.05) than birds fed with NC. Improvement in feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P = 0.0001) was observed from 1 to 42 days by ~3 points in both NC + XyPro and NC + BMD compared to NC. The NC + XyPro reduced lesion scores by 66% compared to PC and NC. Litter C. perfringens cell count was reduced by ~16% with supplementation of XyPro or BMD. It can be concluded that a blend of xylanase (10 XU/g feed) and Bacillus spp. [1 × 105 colony forming units (CFU)/g feed] can be used as an alternative to AGP in low-energy broiler diets.
Highlights
Poultry producers face challenges due to the ban on antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) use in feed
Xylanase and Probiotic in Broiler being closely connected to animal health and the surrounding environment, it becomes necessary for producers to seek alternatives that will comply with AGP-free rules and maintain profit without negatively impacting gut health, poultry performance, or the environment
This study’s objective was to evaluate the efficacy of a combination of high-efficiency xylanase blended with multi-strain Bacillus probiotic on live performance, gut lesions, and environmental Clostridium perfringens load of broiler chickens fed low-energy corn soy diets and reared under typical broiler production conditions when compared to an AGP
Summary
Poultry producers face challenges due to the ban on antibiotic growth promoter (AGP) use in feed. The ability of xylanase to improve utilization of energy as a result of fiber hydrolysis and release of trapped nutrients could potentially allow for feeding diets with lower energy content reducing cost of production. Another approach that can be implemented as an alternative to AGP is incorporating direct-fed microbials (DFM) in poultry feed [19]. Reported research demonstrated that such combination could improve broiler performance and gut health and reduce pathogen load [28] through a synergistic effect, providing a promising successful alternative to AGP. This study’s objective was to evaluate the efficacy of a combination of high-efficiency xylanase blended with multi-strain Bacillus probiotic on live performance, gut lesions, and environmental Clostridium perfringens load of broiler chickens fed low-energy corn soy diets and reared under typical broiler production conditions when compared to an AGP
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